Directory Page Title
"It was at William & Mary where I was encouraged to pursue my passion in labor migration and exploitation issues through the social entrepreneurship path. I deepened my knowledge in the issues by writing a comparative analysis on the domestic worker markets in India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia in my Comparative Law class and wrote an independent thesis on sweatshop labor and corporate liability in a globalized era.”

Elaine Sim (2016)

Co-Founder, Pinkcollar Employment Agency

About

Elaine is the co-founder of Pinkcollar Employment Agency, Malaysia's first ethical domestic worker recruitment agency. She graduated from William & Mary Law School in 2016 (LLM) and attended the school as a Drapers' Scholar. Prior to studying at William & Mary Law School, Elaine pursued her English Law degree (LLB) at Queen Mary, University of London.

The employment of domestic helpers in Asia is commonplace and has a reputation of being highly exploitative of women from impoverished backgrounds. Despite this, many women continue to migrate due to lack of opportunities in their home countries. Pinkcollar serves to provide Filipino domestic helpers with a transparent and ethical service to find safe and suitable jobs in Malaysian households.

Initially, Elaine's interest in labor migration and exploitation issues developed from an interest in labor law and a desire to see better hiring practices for migrant domestic helpers in Malaysia. However, it was at William & Mary where she was encouraged to pursue her passion through the social entrepreneurship path. She deepened her knowledge in the issues by writing a comparative analysis on the domestic worker markets in India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia in her Comparative Law class and wrote an independent thesis on sweatshop labor and corporate liability in a globalize era.

After William & Mary, Elaine spent a month in Hong Kong with the Fair Employment Agency, the first non-profit domestic helper agency in Asia. She qualified as a Malaysian lawyer with Sreenevasan Young, a commercial litigation law firm in Kuala Lumpur. Shortly after, she teamed up with entrepreneur Zenna Law to start Pinkcollar. The company's vision is to advocate ethical recruitment for all migrant workers in the region in joint collaboration with the Fair Employment Foundation, who is now also an investor in Pinkcollar.

Quotation
"It was at William & Mary where I was encouraged to pursue my passion in labor migration and exploitation issues through the social entrepreneurship path. I deepened my knowledge in the issues by writing a comparative analysis on the domestic worker markets in India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia in my Comparative Law class and wrote an independent thesis on sweatshop labor and corporate liability in a globalized era.”